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A cure for poverty but not her own sorrow

As a man, Deirdre McCloskey supported taxing the rich. Now the economist says the middle class is key to raising up the poor. She talks to Josh Glancy about the power of decency — and losing her family

Josh Glancy

May 22 2016, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

Deirdre McCloskey says taking from the wealthy is not the way to help the poor: ‘You could expropriate the wealth of the top 80 in the world, but you could do it only once’Roberta Dupuis-Devlin

There are two remarkable stories to tell about Deirdre McCloskey. One is of a polymath with an extraordinary mind, working as an economist but drawing on an astonishing range of ideas and subjects to produce an influential trilogy about the foundations of modern prosperity. The other is of a 52-year-old, married with two children, who went from being a man to a woman, losing much that was most precious to her in the process.

Each story on its own would describe an extraordinary life; together they make McCloskey unique. The common thread is a person who does not recognise conventional boundaries or accept narrow categories; someone with the strength of will to push past obstacles that most would find daunting, knowing full well that the…

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